For What Is Worth
by Sho-A0YCupid
Summary: Two people; two perspectives; two stories. Both Kiku and Alfred are tested in times that are already strained before the war, the tests of loyalty to their respective countries during war, and the aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

**Prolouge**

_I was only in my twenties…_

_I was only thirteen…_

_**When I first met him…**_

_**I didn't want to be here, but I had no choice.**_

_It was only for a few years…_

_It was only until we move again…_

_**But when I met him, my neighbor, he made every second worthwhile…**_

**Please Read:**

Okay! This is Sho-A0YCupid, also known as Shoai or just Cupid. This is my first Hetalia! fic and I noticed that there's not a lot of love for AmericanxJapan/AlfredxKiku fics. For those I did read are either depressing, cruel, or something along the negatives, which I understand! War is hell there's no doubt about that!

Okay, now the introduction is out of the way, I would like to point out a few things before you go any further! This is my first time doing a Hetalia fic with this couple, get it? FIRST TIMER HERE! So expect somethings you may don't like about here (mispellings, offensive language, dialect, etc.), I'm looking into some things about the prelude to WWII, but that's not going to happen for sometime (since I still got school and whatnot), and in this story, they're not personified contries but normal human beings, and I may mess this up entirely due to being a n00b. Yes you have read right!

Now, if this doesn't deter you to continue reading, then please do and I hope you enjoy it, and let me know if I should continue or say something about taking it off because I'm not good enough to write about this pairing, or anything Hetalia related (as long as you don't go to Ivan).

Other than that, enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 1: Kiku - Beginning_**

_Year: 1934_

I didn't understand why I came to America, especially in the Great Depression, but here I am, in a place called New York. Apparently Father has friends there that will help me settle and a job position for me there. I would like to avoid such bustling places, since I live in the country since birth, but it seems there was still money left for those who would work for less, given they would handle strange hours and uncomfortable living spaces.

However, I was fortunate to live in one of the outskirts of the city's limits, but this also means that I have to travel back and forth. Even more so that my father's friend found the house for rent, meaning that I would have to pay to live in it. If Father didn't ask me to do this, I would've refused and stayed in my own isolated life while everything else is advancing without my knowing. But Father wanted me to expand my horizons starting with living here for four years, working and knowing the Western culture as best possible.

o0o0o0o

After sometime, and fortunate that I was able to keep my name through the check point, I met with the one who my father trusts to look after me for short time I would be here. I soon realized why when he guided me through the crowds, being one of few with a dark blue kimono, and we entered an automobile that I've heard about and rarely seen. He knew the language and dressed accordingly, but people still stared with a sense of distaste. He assured me that it was because foreigners such as I were getting jobs that Americans have to offer, but not many want to do but do it because some have families to support or just to make it through the next day.

That discontent wasn't on Americans alone…

Other foreigners from Spain, Italy, and other countries felt this heavy atmosphere. On our way out of the city, someone threw a tomato at the window where I was sitting. I looked through the pale red juice and saw someone shouting in a language that I know wasn't English. My guide and guardian told me we're in a small Italian community and that he probably is from or was raised in a household from Southern Italy. I didn't want to ask why he assumed that, in fact I figured I wouldn't get involved for as long as I'm here so that I would not find myself in a certain conflict later on.

o0o0o0o

About an hour in he stopped by a house that is to be my home for a few years.

"Ah! Looks like the folks that you're going to rent out to just moved in as well."

I didn't ask further, seeing that I only need to pay the considerable amount and not be a bother to them.

After getting a tour of the strange building and showed how the appliances work, he left, telling me that he will pick me up to take me to work from this point on, and I was left all alone.

The first night on American soil is the worst experience I've felt since leaving home by my father's order. I placed the blankets and pillows on the ground and slept on the floor that night, trying to find my sense of normalcy in this foreign land I've stepped on.

My name is Honda, Kiku. I'm twenty years old and this is how my story begins.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 2: Alfred - Beginning_**

_Year: 1934_

"Are we almost there?" I asked my dad, who was driving for the past five hours. I think we've been on the road for five days to get to some place in New York, but not the city area. He said that the city isn't the greatest place to live in at the moment, so we're going to live in a place that's a bit out of the ways of the city.

"We're almost there."

"You said that an hour ago…" I said, obviously bored out of my mind.

This of course was followed by silence. I looked back to see most of the boxes filled with clothes, books and small stuff while the truck behind us was hauling our larger stuff, such as a couch, beds, and other such things a truck can hold.

"Is this the last time we're moving?" I asked as I heard him sigh, which always means a he's not sure and wishes I can just be quiet for a few minutes. Well I've been quiet for hours, thank you very much. "Hey! When we're done moving in, can we play catch?"

"Sure Alfred." He said, not once taking his eyes off the road.

Again, his way of saying that he probably won't have time to do something as simple as that.

My dad is a military man and my mother died sometime after I was born. I've never seen a picture of her, which is why Dad is a bit uncomfortable around me. I remember some people mentioning that I got her eyes and her free spirited and bold personality, but I hardly resemble my father, which makes him a bit more uncomfortable about raising me, I guess. I don't think I'm anyone else's kid, but sometimes I wonder if the man beside me could call himself a father to a son who needs at least five minutes of attention that isn't a military standard procedure.

Why we're moving to New York is beyond me, but I think it has to be because he's going to be teaching or something like that. Like I mentioned, it was beyond me and I'm not going to pry about it.

"You got everything ready for school? You'll be going there as soon as we move in."

"Yeah…" I said as I stared at my bag at my feet, along with my baseball glove and ball. Then once again we were in a thick silence before houses started to come up and a small street.

"We're here." He said as he drove up the small driveway, the truck parked alongside the sidewalk. "You think you can carry the boxes inside?"

"Yeah." I said as the engine died and I opened the door, put on my bag on my back before opening the other door to grab the box labeled 'Books' and headed inside while Dad and the guy were carrying the couch in. I set the box down on one corner of a large room before heading to my supposed new room and placed my bag in the closet, from there I grabbed another box when another car drove up to the smaller house next to the one I'm going to be living in and saw a strange looking man and what looks like a woman, who's a bit pretty.

"Looks like you got a Jap renting out of that small house." Said the guy as he and Dad came out to get something else from the truck.

"I was notified that the small house is part of the property, but I don't have a need for it. I placed an ad to be rented out and someone took it." Dad said as the man laughed.

"You'd be lucky if he pays on time."

"We are living on hard times." He said as he and the man lifted a table, which will go to the kitchen. "I'm just surprised to have anyone suddenly take up the offer."

"Well! If he doesn't pay, let me know, alright?"

For some reason this guy was being mean to the strange guy. I looked back to see that the odd man was walking out, speaking some odd language to the lady, and went to the car and drove off.

'Isn't he coming back?' I thought as Dad called me.

My name is Alfred F. Jones. I'm thirteen years old, and this is the start of my story.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 3: Kiku - First Day_**

I woke up after an unsettling night and went to the closet to find the suit I will be wearing for my job. I wasn't used to this kind of fashion, but I was left with no choice. Soon I was donned with a plain white dress shirt, dark brown pants, brown socks, and close to the door is my dark brown leather shoes. I looked at the clock, and saw that he will be here in a few minutes.

I didn't have anything food related anywhere in this house, but I wasn't hungry. In fact I felt far too sick to eat anything if I want to end up just coming out from where it entered.

All I could do is breathe as I waited to hear the rumble of that automobile, put my shoes on, grabbed the coat I was to bring, and stepped out in time to hear another door slam and I saw a boy run out, jump over the three steps and was about to run down the sidewalk in front of the house when his eyes looked up at me.

He must never seen a Japanese man before, much like I never seen a young American boy before. I can tell he was confused if not lost in what I was or why I'm here, but my guide shouted something in English to the boy as he ran, getting one last glance at me and continued to run down the sidewalk and disappeared around the corner.

"Ah! Damn kids! Don't know it's rude to stare!" He said in the native tongue as he looked at me. "You look sharp, Honda-san."

"A-Arigato gozaimasu…(1)"

"You don't have to be formal around me."

I didn't respond as I entered the automobile and we headed to the city, where I work with him by filing out files.

o0o0o0o

This seems like a simple task to any English speaking individual, but it was hell for me, not understanding a word or letter of English. My guide was kind enough to help me out on some things, but those he would be called up and I'm left alone to deal things on my own. I could hear laughter from outside the room and I would look back to see some walk away from the doorway, and I knew I was being targeted for some cruel humor for being new. Luckily I don't understand a word they said, but it still stings that they don't think I know what they're talking about.

I never mentioned it to my guide as he took me out to show me how to purchase things and learn some English responses. All in all it was mentally taxing.

o0o0o0o

When I did arrive home, or what I'm supposed to call home, I just laid down on the ground in the, supposedly, living room. I closed my eyes for at least a minute before I heard a knock on the door. I looked at the door to see if I'm imagining things, but the knock was heard again. I got up and went up to the door, opened it slightly and saw the American boy from earlier.

He smiled and greeted me with a 'hi there', I do believe that's what he said. "K-Konichiwa gozaimasu…" I said, unsure what to say to this American. I can easily tell he seemed uncomfortable as well, mostly due to the language, but he kept smiling and held out his hand as he said something.

I remembered my guide shaking hands with some people earlier and hesitantly held out mine to grab his and he shook slightly before releasing as he said something else that I couldn't understand.

Fortunately he must've picked up my uneasiness and pointed to himself. "Al… fred…" He said slowly as I thought up a way to pronounce his name, but before I did he pointed at me. "Name?" He asked, looking curious.

I pointed to myself. "Watashi no namae wa?(2)"

He looked a bit uneasy as he nodded.

"Honda, Kiku desu."

He blinked. "Uh… Honda?"

I could understand how he feels and just nodded.

That seemed to be satisfactory for him as he smiled. He said something I couldn't understand again, but he seemed happy and it wasn't like what I experienced earlier. He seemed to be interested to understand, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy.

He then pointed to the house next door and pointed at himself.

I understood and bowed. "De, Arufuredo-san teeto shitee tadaki arigatoo gozaimasu.(3)" I said as I looked that he had the lost look once more, but I managed a small smile, which he took it as a good thing as he animatedly waved and jumped the steps and ran to the house, waving again before entering it.

I entered back inside, feeling a little better than before but that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach is still hurting me. I looked around the house once more, but I didn't feel the need to clean. I just felt exhausted but not tired. I walked outside to the back yard and looked at the changing sky, and for that moment found some kind of peace.

* * *

Meanings:

1: Thank you (polite; formal)

2: My name?

3: Thank you for stopping by, Alfred-san

If I got any translations wrong, please let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 4: Alfred - First Day_**

The next morning I was up, dressed, grabbed an apple, and I started to run out when I looked up to see the person again, but this time I found out that my foreign neighbor is actually a guy and not a girl. He seemed surprised to see me as well before the weird guy started shouting at me. I managed to get another look at my neighbor before running to the stop that the bus was suppose to be.

o0o0o0o

School was okay, it's still the same thing. You get there, find your classes, do the introduction stuff, and hope you don't screw up on your first day because it will last the whole day to the whole year. Because my dad works for the military, I never stay friends with people for long, but I don't want to be depressed about it either. So when it came to my introduction, I put on my best face and practically announced that I was a born leader and will become a soldier like my dad and become a hero.

I was laughed at the 'hero' part.

The whole day after that was shit. Guys picking fun at me, even dragging a poor girl into their fun to see how much I mean it. Well, I had to prove myself and got the girl out of the way, but the guys then started throwing me around before the teachers came and broke it up. No doubt Dad will hear about this, but then he's hardly home anyway, so I wasn't too worried as I should be.

The girls were worse though. All they do is giggle and side talk about me while also giggling more. At one point I distinctly heard one girl saying 'idiot' behind my back.

I may not get along with my dad as most sons and fathers do, but I still admire him. And I do want to be a hero like him, even if I'm the only one that's proud of that. After all, it's my dad and everyone who works with him is what's keeping this country's freedom after all. I let them laugh at me, because I know better about what this country stands for.

I noticed that there's a lot of nationalities in the school, which made me feel a little better, except for the fact that there's still some majority and minority issues. It's worse for the white students in the school, thinking they got control over all the other students while having an unannounced civil war against each other.

Yeah, I'm a lot perspective than people will ever know in their life time. Mostly because I keep moving a lot with my dad and being in different schools has let me see a lot of things that most kids would never realize until they're older or it's too late. It helps when I can't make any long term friends.

When school let out, I was just heading to the bus when someone just shoved me and I hit the tree. It hurt, but nothing to pick a fight about. A hero has to pick his battles wisely anyway, something I learned quickly earlier today.

When the bus got to my stop, I was more than happy to be off and head home.

o0o0o0o

When I did get home, I wasn't surprised to see that Dad wasn't home yet. He usually doesn't come home until late. So I placed my stuff on the coffee table and worked on some homework before I heard the sound of the car. I looked out of the window to see the Japanese man from earlier, and he looked like he had a rough day by how he sighed as the other man kept talking in that strange language, as if trying to comfort him. Soon he went inside and the other guy went away, thus the urge to talk to my neighbor was the trigger for me to get out of the house and went up to the door.

After a few knocks the door opened and I saw that he was cautious, and he seemed to recognize me because he opened the door a bit wider.

"Hi there!" I said, making sure that I'm here to greet him, since we are neighbors after all. Then he said something I couldn't understand, which I started to think this was a stupid move on my part, but I continued as I stuck out my hand. "It's nice to meet you!"

He looked at my hand for a moment before he grabbed my hand, I shook it and let go. "My name is Alfred F. Jones. What's yours?" I said, but I immediately saw that I completely lost him. So I pointed a finger at myself and said my name slowly before I pointed to him. I know this is rude, but with a language barrier, it can be ignored.

He then went off asking a question while pointing at himself.

I figured he was repeating the question before he responded that sounded like a name. "Uh… Honda?" I said, wondering if I got the name right, which he nodded and I felt relieved. "That's an interesting name, but then my name is different to you as well." I felt a bit better that it went well, and he seemed a bit better than earlier, he must've had a bad day as well. But I remember my school work and I mentioned to him that I'm going to head back home.

He bowed and said something I completely don't understand, but he gave me a smile and I can tell it was a good thing as I waved and went back to the house. I felt a lot better that I talked to him, even though it was short and broken up, but it was better than feeling awful.

Now that I think about it, don't heroes make others feel better after something bad happens? Oh well! I still got some school work to finish up.

* * *

So... continue? Or kick out?


	6. Chapter 6

_**Ch. 5: Kiku - Acceptance**_

The next day the sickening feeling lessened, but still hurts. I got dressed and headed out to enjoy the crisp morning air when I saw my neighbor again, jumping over the three steps and was about to run pass when he looked up and smiled. He said something that looked like a greeting and I returned it with a bow and a response. "Ohayo gozaimasu."

He blinked as he sounded out the words, which was a little amusing and refreshing in a way. Then we saw the car come sputtering up and I saw him wave as he ran down to the corner. I waved back, feeling a little better at that moment as my guide came up with a lost look.

"Was he giving you any problems, Honda-san?"

I shook my head. "None at all." I said as I entered the vehicle.

"Are you sure? A lot of people can take advantage to the likes of us." He said as he got to the driver's side.

"Alfred-san means no harm. I'm very good at reading the atmosphere."

He didn't seemed convinced, but he drove out of the area and headed to the city, where I was treated the same as yesterday. But this time I must've displayed some kind of confidence because I didn't hear many voices this time, but the atmosphere is still the same discontent and spite.

o0o0o0o

When I was taken out to lunch, there was a man with cats following him and one of them, a white one with a black ear, came up to me and I gave it a little pet. I looked up to see he was looking at me and he smiled. I nodded my head in recognition, knowing he probably doesn't speak my language.

At that moment another man, wearing a white mask that covered the upper half of his face, came over and served the foreign food that my guide ordered, since there's not a close enough restaurant that serves Japanese food. I caught his smiling expression before he looked over my head and that expression changed to a scowl. I looked back to the man with the cats, who has the same expression on his face. I can tell there was a challenging air as the man with the mask walked away and back into the small place my guide took us to.

"It's not like home, but you're going to have to get used to these things. Food especially!" He said as he took a bite of his food.

I took a bite of it. It wasn't bad, but not what I'm used to, but that didn't seem to deter my guide as he ate his with such vigor that it almost made me not want to take another bite. But I continued to eat slowly before it was time to head back to work.

o0o0o0o

My guide just left me be for only a few seconds before some man came in and started shouting at me and waving papers above his head, as if threatening to hit me with it. I just stood there as I listened to him rant as he actually hit me with the papers, repeatedly, until my guide came in and talked to the man, but also getting the same treatment I was getting.

I never felt so helpless before that moment. I thought that if I stayed silent then I would only have to tolerate the snickering behind my back, but this threatening moment was enough to realize that I have to understand what the man is demanding and get it done before being physically harmed. I also realized that my lack of a response wouldn't be tolerated for long, and I have to learn how to speak English if I was to survive in this land long enough to go home. But my fear of losing my own language in pursuit of learning another was making me uneasy. The only thing that can calm my fear is watching my guide as he struggles with the other workers, but he still able to converse with me when he was here for only a year.

o0o0o0o

When the day is over with, he was getting close to where I live when I noticed the boy by the steps with some boxes behind him, and he was holding a bat.

"This doesn't look good." He said as he wanted to drive pass the house, but I knew there was something going on and did something that was beyond my character: I opened the car door while it was still moving. "Honda-san!"

I got out safely as I went up to the boy, who looked up and I saw some bruises and his lip showed signs that he had a cut lip, but he seemed happy to see me.

He started to say something as he pointed to the boxes, but I walked up and mentioned him to follow me inside the house.

o0o0o0o

I went to the kitchen, grabbed a cloth, turned the water on to run it over the cloth, and then I applied the cloth to his face. He started saying something, but he immediately silenced as my guide entered.

"What's going on?"

"He showed signs of being beatened, though I don't know why." I responded as my guide switched to English, asking the boy as the boy responded.

"He says he saw a group of people hanging around your place when he came home. He didn't like how it looked so he ward them off when he saw that the group were about to steal the boxes."

"Father said he was going to send some things over." I said as I looked to see that the signs of blood were off, folded the cloth and gently applied it to the bruise on his cheek. "Arigato gozaimasu, Alfred-san."

The boy smiled as he said something that my guide translated.

"He says, 'It's what good neighbors do.'"

I smiled a bit more as I looked at my guide and mentioned about moving the boxes in.

As we were doing that, the boy picked a box up and helped carried it in.

o0o0o0o

There were only five boxes that held some personal belongings and furnishings, but as I looked over at Alfred and my guide, it seems the boy was greatly interested in knowing what each item is while my guide humorously explained each one as I helped and set out the items to how I liked it.

Then Alfred found the box that held the one thing that means most out of everything in the boxes: the katana.

When I saw this, I hastily went up and took it away from him. I didn't mean to startle him, but I'm also glad my guide was there to explain the importance of the katana.

He looked like he understood and he smiled at me and I could tell he forgiven my possessive act earlier and went back into the box to pick up a scroll with a poem that was a favorite to my mother before she passed on. He placed it on the couch, along with other items that were delicate before he said something while pointing out to the door.

"He's letting us know he's leaving to finish up something for school." My guide translated as I nodded and bowed as well as said my thanks, which the boy must know what it means without my guide translating.

He nodded and said something before waving and carefully ran out to the door and out.

"He says, 'It was no problem and that he'll see you tomorrow.'"

I smiled as I felt more at ease than I was in the last few hours.

"Seems you were right about that boy, Honda-san."

"Most of my readings are usually true." I responded as my guide said he has to leave as well and I was left alone to arrange the remaining items to my liking.

Once all that was set and done for the evening, I heated up some tea and brought out some paper and something to write with as I wrote to my father about what has been going on.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Ch. 6: Alfred - Acceptance_**

Another morning and Dad is gone early once again. I can tell because there's still the scent of coffee lingering in the kitchen when I walked in to fix breakfast. I did the usual routine before I headed out and saw Honda again. I said my morning greeting and he bowed and said something that I guess means 'good morning' in his language. And the bowing thing was a custom. But I tried my hand of saying his greeting, which I saw him smile a bit, and he looked… cute? Well… I did think he was a woman when I first met him. Then the car with the other Japanese man came up and I didn't want to repeat what happened yesterday and ran off with a wave of my hand.

School wasn't all that great the second day. The first day is the day of anticipation, excitement, and nervousness to the point where you want to lose your breakfast, but second days… That excitement feeling wears off a bit, anticipation gets a small increase when it comes to homework and those kinds of things, and nervousness… depending how you did on the first day, it can vary. For me, I wasn't really that nervous.

I was told I got the outgoing personality, which was another trait my mother had, such things as being teased doesn't bother me all that much, I always find something to do. I was even thanked by the girl I helped out the first day. She's pretty, in a shy, school girl kind of way, but we just end up talking for little bit before her friends came by and we parted ways from that.

At this point I was wondering why I didn't ask her out or something. And along the lines of 'you idiot, what is wrong with you!' and 'she could've been your girlfriend you idiot!' but I guess I'm just not at that point of being serious about asking a girl out or something. Besides, it seems that after that little heroic moment has gotten me some admirers from the female population, which was better than one of the girls calling me an idiot behind my back with hushed giggles. Those are the worst really, because you can't tell if those giggles were aimed towards you to hurt you or to praise you.

But if I have admirers, then I also have some not so thrilled to have me around types. The guys I fought the first day wanted another round, but I told them I didn't have time and quickly found a classroom to dodge in. A pretty cowardly move, but I didn't want to get in trouble, since the first one was a warning after all. And Dad is already on shaky terms with me and I didn't want to have our barely existing relationship to still be there. But it still kinda bothered me that I couldn't really stand up, but I have to be smart about picking fights or I'm facing a lot of problems with the teachers later on.

o0o0o0o

I was more than happy to finally get home and on my way there, I noticed some guys standing around outside of Honda's house. I noticed few were smoking and were murmuring something, but I knew that if I do anything funny, these guys are going to let me have at it. I went around, and I could sense that they're staring at me, and quickly went into my house. Once there I looked out of the window through the yellowing, moth eaten lace curtains and watched them.

I heard of a few fights going on between the immigrants and everyone else, but I've never seen one and I don't want to let Honda get hurt by these guys. I quickly headed up to my room, grabbed a bat from my closet, and looked out the window just in time to see that the guys weren't there, but a huge van was there and some delivery guys going out with boxes and setting them on the porch. I continued to watch as five boxes were on the porch and the delivery guys drove off, which seemed to signal those guys to come out of hiding and were heading towards the boxes.

I wasted no time as I ran out there and shouted at them to stay away from the boxes. I remember the look of surprise when they saw me and I hit my bat on the first guy on the back, which is gonna leave a bruise. I don't plan on killing any of these guys, but if push comes to shove, they only got themselves to blame.

I may not know Honda all that well, and not many Americans can keep a friendship with a foreign person if they're going to handle other racial morons trying to do something about it, but even I know that stealing from someone, foreign or domestic, is just plain wrong. I don't even give a damn how desperate these guys are, and I know times are tough for most of us, but damn it! There's no way I'll ever forgive myself if I just stood there and watch while these guys touch their dirty hands on someone's processions!

I managed to scare them off for now, with a few bruises to remember me by, though I think I got the worst part of getting a few hits myself, there were five of them after all. So, I waited on the steps, in case they came back and waited for Honda to get home.

I waited awhile before I heard someone shouting and I looked up in time to see Honda running up to me. I must've looked a lot awful than what I felt when he looked shocked, but I was still happy to see him, because he's safe now and I protected his stuff from being stolen. "Hey! How's it going?" I said, even though he probably has no idea what I'm talking about as he mentioned me to go into the house.

o0o0o0o

It was pretty bare of anything except for a couch, a rug, and a small coffee table, and then we went into the kitchen. If I didn't know he was a man, I would've thought he's a woman acting on motherly instincts as he cleaned my face from any blood that was on me. I have to admit though, it was nice to be taken care of after always having to look out for myself. And I grew up without a mom, so this mothering gesture is a bit new to me, but not unwelcomed. "Hey I'm fine, really." I started to say, but I can see that he was too worried to understand what I'm talking about. That's when the other guy came in and said something that I didn't understand.

Then he looked at me. "Young sir, just what happened?"

"There were some men waiting around and I ward them off when they tried to steal the boxes." I said as he translated to Honda as he said something before applying some pressure of the cold soaked cloth to my cheek, where that one bastard punched me, and he said something that I knew was 'thank you'. I smiled and said 'that's what good neighbors are for.' And the other guy translated. I saw him smile as he said something to the man.

"He says to move the boxes in."

With that we moved the boxes in and started unpacking.

o0o0o0o

In no time the once empty living room started to fill with things that I didn't expect to see before and the man, Mr. Hioshi, explained to me what each thing was.

I don't know why, but I've always been fascinated by items that have historical value and I love to learn history more than anything, next to playing baseball and thinking about being a hero. Then I picked up something that looked like a sword, which Honda quickly took away from me.

I can see he looked surprised about his sudden motion and then Mr. Hioshi explained.

"Don't worry, young sir, that katana is a family heirloom that represents the honor of our ancestors who once wield it."

"Oh, I see." I said as the word 'katana' just sounded great for a Japanese sword as I gave him a smile, to let him know it was okay, and picked up something that was cylinder-like, but looked important, and placed it carefully with the other things that have to be careful of. Which I noticed the time and I told them I had to get back home to do my school work.

Mr. Hioshi translated to Honda, who then bowed and thanked me in his language again, which I acknowledged and said I would see him tomorrow as I ran out of the residence, feeling like I've accomplished my hero deed of the day, and went back home… An empty and silent home.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ch.7: Kiku - Weekend pt. 1**_

_Friday_

The end of the week, as my guide mentions, is the time of the week that most American's look forward too. It's a bit strange to me, but apparently that's how my schedule is like. Hioshi-san mentioned that there are some people working for the weekend, but to keep the peace in the work place, we don't do weekends. It was understandable, of course. But what I didn't understand was that Hioshi-san is going to leave me on my own for the weekend to visit some woman he'd been seeing for some time.

"It's called dating here, Honda-san. It's a form of courtship that a man can treat a woman and, if he gets lucky, get permission to enter her cave without proof of marriage!"

The very thought of him doing… that, made me sick again. The fact that he's so used to these American customs is worrisome to his health and safety.

But, here I am… In my so called home after that work day. I immediately took off my work clothes and into my own outfit as I wandered around to the kitchen. Earlier the week Hioshi-san took me out to get groceries with the amount of money he saved up to help me, but he can't always do that. So I looked at what I have and started to plan out what would be the evening's course when I heard a knock on my door, and immediately knew who was on the other side. I went to open the door and there he was, with a book and his bag.

"Konnichiwa gozaimasha!(1)" He said with a smile.

He has picked up that greeting for some time, and although his pronunciation still needs some work, it wasn't bad. I let him in and he took his shoes off, as he also learned from watching me and Hioshi-san, and went to the, once living room now transformed tea room, and set his bag down on the table's side and placed his book on the desk, which he opened up and there was a few sheets of paper and a pencil already there.

He's been coming over ever since the incident with the boxes and, although I enjoy his presence, I wonder how his family thinks of this. Surely he isn't in that house by himself?

I then started to prepare the tea as he started doing whatever was required for him at the time. And once the tea is done, I placed one cup in front of him and I sat on the other side of the table with my own cup in hand.

This became routine quickly since that day.

I would get curious about what he looks at with such intent, but I kept my wondering glance at my tea as I thought back how I was raised when I was young. My father mostly taught me many things that were important for growing up. This thought lead to my current situation, which I believed my father asked me to come here because this is something he could not teach, and with times changing as they were, I was going to be self taught the hard way that goes against all that I've learned when I was younger. I then wonder how my father is doing. My letter I recently sent was going to take a while, I understood that, and even longer to get a response, but I do hope things are well where he's concerned.

And when I do get to thinking about my father, I wonder what Alfred-san's father is like. I never see either parent, always him exit and enter that house. Then, when I think about it, I believe I heard the sound of a vehicle near my place, which would mean that whoever gets up at that point in the morning leaves him all alone from barely dawn to deep into evening.

"Honda!"

I looked up when he called me and I saw that he showed signs of being done with whatever work he was doing. I saw that he reached for his bag and took out some books and he walked to my side, sat down, and placed the books between us as he picked up the first book and opened it.

These books were colorful and only a few pages long. But these books, although childish to the American standard, were a great tool for me to learn to read in English.

Alfred-san has been trying to teach me ever since Hioshi-san stopped him the day after the incident, he must've told him about what happened and the boy was more than eager to help. Later that same day when I got home, he was waiting for me by those steps with a stack of books at his side. Although I knew he had no idea how he was going to teach me his language, but he was going to do his best and that's admirable.

The books he brings are those what he calls 'fairytales', stories based on influencing adventurous and romantic imaginations of the young which also has hidden morals that may help through the coming of change. And because of stories like that, I learned how to read and recognize the first few words 'Once upon a time…' because it's been used so much in these stories. But I must admit, the stories, though I don't fully understand the words yet, the illustrations caught my interest as it told the story well while Alfred-san continued to tell the story.

This tale is about a fair maiden who is so beautiful that the Queen is jealous and asked a man to do away with her. But the man wasn't able to do it and the girl fled into the woods, finding herself in a small household of seven little men who took her in. But the Queen found out that the man had failed and attempted to kill her three times, the third is where she disguised herself as an old apple seller where she gives a poisoned apple to the maiden called Snow White.

If anyone but Alfred-san were to see me, they would've seen the shocked and anxious look when the maiden had bit into the apple and was left for dead, but only for the Queen to witness her own demise. So much so that I had not realized that I was holding onto his arm like a frightened woman until he stopped suddenly.

I let go of his arm and looked at him, which he was looking somewhere behind me. Then I heard the soft audible sound of an automobile outside. I knew Hioshi-san wasn't in around until later on Sunday, so then what was that sound? Then Alfred-san got up and ran out to the door before making a cheerful sound and went out. I followed suit and I saw him go up to a man that he somewhat resembles, and I realized then that this man is his father. The man I never see until now.

Alfred-san looked really happy to see his father, but…

o0o0o0o

I saw this man, tired and exhausted, but the atmosphere reading was telling me that he is uncomfortable of his own son's happiness of facing him. I saw him talking to the boy, which the boy responded as his smile faltered to that of concern. Both of them talked for sometime before the man was heading back into the car. Alfred-san reached out to grab the man's hand, and that's when I saw it. The man jerked his hand away as if the boy had something rotten on it when it was relatively clean and said something in a louder and harsher tone than needed and got into the car and drove off.

All I could do is stand there as I saw Alfred-san stand there, arm still out in the air, vainly reaching out to the man he clearly holds dear. I then saw the tell tale signs of him about to cry as he started to shiver, but he quickly starts to laugh and started to turn with a smile on his face, so forced and pained that it was enough for me to reenter my home and sat back down when he entered to the room once more and picked up where he left off.

This time, I looked at his face and it pained me to see that this boy was doing everything to not show how hurt he truly is. But I'll humor him more as I looked at the book, carefully following his finger that points out the word he says. He would then pause to let me have a go at trying to read.

o0o0o0o

After that I made dinner for the both of us, even though he made an attempt to leave. I let him stay by mentioning that I needed help, and he likes to be helpful as I've come to find out as he watched carefully of what I expect of him to do while I do other things.

Then it was my turn to teach as he had a hard time holding the chopsticks. It was quite amusing to see and teach as he tried several times before he finally got one noddle in his mouth. He gotten better after the tenth try.

Soon it was late, but he didn't make an attempt to excuse himself to leave, and I didn't see any reason why he shouldn't stay. Just thinking about him all alone in that house made me wonder if this happened often. When I saw him again, he was already on the ground, asleep. I quickly set up an extra futon in my room, since the other rooms are already filled with items, and roused him enough to guide him to the prepared futon and tucked him in.

o0o0o0o

_Saturday_

I awoke that morning and found him up and curled up with his knees under his chin and arms wrapped around his legs.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Alfred-san." I said as I sat up and he looked at me, evidence of any sadness was gone within a blink as he smiled.

"Good morning!" He said, understanding that much of the greeting by now. But since this is my first weekend on American soil, I realized I was at a loss of what to do. And with Alfred as my guest and only American friend, I don't know how to voice in his language of what he had in mind for weekends. But it seems he was thinking about things to do as he got up and stretched his hand out to me. I wasn't sure what to do for today and grabbed his hand to help me up, mentioned him to go out of the room for a moment while I dressed accordingly, once done I found him in the kitchen, cooking up something that I'm not familiar with.

First it was a pale yellow color with some vegetables I bought the other day, folded into a half circle, and used the spatula to take it out and placed it on a plate.

"What is this?" I said, which was what Alfred would usually say when he was asking Hioshi-san what each item was the days he visited. And because of that, I learned what it means and practiced saying as well.

He said it was an 'omelet' and something else that I didn't understand, but he handed me the plate and mentioned me to take a seat while he started making another.

I wasn't sure how to eat something like this, but I didn't want to be rude and grabbed my chopsticks and made an attempt to get a corner, succeeding to tear a piece and ate it. It wasn't bad… this 'omelet' he made.

He joined a short time later and he immediately knew what to do with his chopped sticks and ate as he looked at the clock that Hioshi-san placed in. He started saying something, probably to fill in the silence as he ate bite after bite of his breakfast.

Once we were done, he took our plates and placed them in the sink and announced something that I didn't understand until he reached out his hand and pointed to the door. I knew then he was going to take me out. If it were anyone else, I would politely decline, but this was my neighbor and friend, and I knew he would not take no for an answer, whether he understood me or not.

o0o0o0o

And now I find myself walking side by side with him as I saw people from the neighborhood, staring at us. I realized that I was the only foreign person in the whole neighborhood. Then my hand was suddenly grasped by Alfred-san's own as he smiled at me, talking in a language I have yet understood. Yet, it seems that I'm safe as long as Alfred-san is the only one who accepts me for how I am.

Now… if only I knew where we're going…

* * *

(1) Good afternoon (polite) - Although, I think you can say it without the second part and it will still be okay...


	9. Chapter 9

_**Ch. 8: Alfred - Weekend pt. 1**_

_Friday_

The first week of school turned out better than I expected, but I still look forward to the weekend more than anything. I was looking forward to spending time with Dad this weekend, since I looked into his schedule and saw that he didn't have much stuff to do on the weekend, and he still owes me a game of catch. But before that, I grabbed some stuff I still needed to finish up, some books, and headed to Honda's house.

I picked up some of the words and customs since I started hanging around the place more often. To me, I felt a bit more at home than I do in that empty house. I even started to like the tea Honda makes, in fact it's the only kind of tea I've ever tasted. I never tried iced tea or anything like that, but the warm, green tea is actually pretty good.

Even though Honda isn't much of a talker, he still sits at the same table as I do my homework. He seems to be interested in what I'm doing, but he still respects my space, not that I wouldn't mind because I know I would be in his case if our positions switched, and it was just school work anyway.

Tonight he seemed to be lost in his mind, which he's done before the last time I came. It's kinda funny that he does that, especially when I wave my hands around and, one time, I made a funny face and he still didn't react. But tonight I just finished writing down the answers and got his attention to the only way I know that works: calling out his name.

Once I got his attention, I placed my school work aside and walked over to his side, sat down next to him, and started reading 'Snow White'. Mr. Hioshi asked me to teach him English, and I told him that I'm no teacher, but he insisted that I would do my best to have Honda understand and speak English. I figured something must've happened that would resort to that, but I didn't mind. So, I figured the best place to start teaching is through stories, reading slowly so that he could make out the words and recognize them. It was basic stuff, but these stories are really good no matter how old you are. Granted I would rather read about heros and stuff like that, but this wasn't for me it's for Honda.

I was getting to the part where 'Snow White' just bit into the poisonous apple and the Evil Queen just perished when I felt my arm being held tightly, and I couldn't help but smile before hearing the sound of a vehicle going up to the driveway to the empty house. I got up and headed outside to see that it was Dad's car I heard. "Dad!" I called out as I ran up to him.

o0o0o0o

I could tell he was tired and he gave me that look again. I never liked that look, but I tolerated it as he sighed.

"Were you at that man's place again?"

"Honda's? Yeah, I'm helping him how to read and speak English."

"I see…" He said as he readjusted his jacket. "Alfred… I'm going to go to Washington for a couple weeks…"

"Huh? What for?"

"Just to discuss some things." He said.

"Dad… that's what telephones are for."

"This isn't something to describe over the phone for."

"But do you really have to go for that long?"

"From here to there and back is worth that many days."

"Oh… Okay…" I said as he started to head to the car. "Hey, Dad-" I started to say as I reached for his arm, which he jerked it away and shouted at me.

"For Chrissakes! Act like your own age! You're not a damn child that needs to have his hand held every second!"

I just stood there as I watched him drive off. I didn't understand what that was about. I wanted to ask him if he was still up to playing catch when he comes back.

Damn it! Why does he always tell me things that I don't do? And why does he have to be like that when all I want is just five minutes of him hearing me out?

But I swallowed that as I thought that he was just tired and a bit of a grouch, which put me in a false state of content with that thought, but it was better than feeling some kind of hurt as I returned to finish that story for Honda.

o0o0o0o

I was about to leave for that empty home of mine when Honda mentioned me to come into the kitchen and helped out. I wasn't sure what to make out the arrangement, but I'm glad that Honda didn't allow me to go home. I really don't want to spend one more lonely night by myself, especially now that I know that Dad won't be coming home for quite awhile.

He didn't give himself a day to rest before leaving. At least he told me he was going, so that alone can tell me he cared, right?

The soup he made was good, but learning how to use these darn sticks he eats with was almost impossible until he helped me. After that it took me a few tries before I got that stupid noddle into my mouth. Once that was done, I noticed the time and I started to feel tired. After he left to put away the bowls, I thought I would just rest my eyes and laid down on the floor. I've done it before and he didn't seem to mind the last time, so I did just that and just… rested.

o0o0o0o

_Saturday_

I woke up with a start. You know when you have those dreams that jolt you awake, but you can't remember just what kind of dream it was? Well I had something like that and I found myself in Honda's spacious room and I saw that he was still asleep on some kind of mattress. Mr. Hioshi called it a futon, and from the looks of it Honda had an extra one for me to use. That was really nice of him.

I curled up a bit as I thought about the last time something like this happened. I remember many times I fell asleep on the floor from doing homework, only to wake up shivering and it was so dark that I couldn't tell where everything is. Though there was one time near Christmas that I woke up one morning with a blanket on me and on the couch, when I remembered that I was on the floor and only with a jacket on. That was the only time I remember spending time with Dad when he came down, made breakfast and he read to me. I was only five then.

Then I heard Honda say his morning greeting and I said mine as I put on a smile. Then I remembered that today is Saturday, and I thought I can ask Dad to play catch with me at least for a few throws before he holes himself back into his office. I looked over and saw that Honda looked a bit lost and I realized that this is his first weekend that he doesn't have to work. That means he's free to do whatever, but it looks as though he doesn't know what to do.

Well, I know I don't want to spend a perfectly good day indoors. I got up and helped him up, he mentioned me out of the room, which I did and decided to make breakfast. I looked around and could only think of making omelets, which I don't know if he'll like it or not, but I decided to make it anyway.

When he came out, his was done and he looked curious about it and asked about it in his best English he can voice.

"It's an omelet. They're good." I said as I placed his on the plate and handed it to him. He looked at it a bit but he brought it over to the table as I started making mine.

Once that was done and I placed the dishes in the sink to clean later, I went back out to see him and announced that we were going to just walk around, and I could see he has no idea what I just said. I held out my hand and pointed to the door, which he understood and took my hand and we headed out to just walk around the neighborhood.

o0o0o0o

I noticed that everyone was looking at Honda, being different from everyone else and what not. I looked to see he was a bit conscious of this and I grabbed his hand and gave him a smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure no one hurts you. I promise. We're friends after all, even though you might not see it because we've been neighbors for a week, but I like you already. And I know you trust me, so that's enough to call you my friend." I knew he doesn't understand me yet, but I can see he seem to relax as he looked at our hands and his face turned pink. He's not used to being close, I realize that, but I can tell he trusts me enough that I would be an exception due to the situation, which I was okay with.

Then I figured out a great place to spend the day.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 9: Kiku - Skipping Stones**_

Saturday

We've walked ways away from the neighborhood, and I started to feel relaxed as I saw that there are no other eyes staring at me. Alfred-san has been humming some kind of song and I noticed that he and I were about the same height. And thinking about his father, the man was pretty tall, and I knew that soon this boy will become a man. I'm twenty years old, but I'm the same height as this boy. Western people are quite intimidating in height, but then I also heard that they age a lot quicker than my people… Maybe they're connected somehow.

"Honda."

I was brought back to the present and saw that we were in some open area with trees. I looked at him and he said the word 'park' a few times and I tried wording it out, but like how his pronunciation with my language isn't great, my pronunciation wasn't great as well, but like me, he accepted the closest to the actual word and we continued our way to this 'park'.

o0o0o0o

There was a few people here, and some looked our, or rather my, way, but Alfred-san continued to hold my hand as we walked.

Now that I notice that our hands were still joined, I wondered if people would get the wrong idea. I'm a man after all, and he can be no older than thirteen. But he seems so happy to be doing this, and maybe the gesture is very loose like most things in the western culture, such like that dating thing.

Soon we headed to what looked like a pond and he let go of my hand and picked up some stones along the water's edge and handed a few to me. He mentioned me to watch him as he held a stone a certain way, made a motion as to throw it, and I watched how he let go of the little stone and, amazingly the stone skipped on top of the water seven times before disappearing into the water. He mentioned me to try and I did, only for my stone to sink into the water as soon as I threw it.

I felt a bit discouraged, but I felt his hand held my throwing hand and he instructed how to hold the stone and how that I have to carefully aim before throwing it with all my strength, and he let me try again. I kept this up for another twenty tries and I finally managed to make my last stone skip three times.

He cheered and patted my shoulder, which I'm not accustomed to such physical praises, but I looked to see that he was congratulating me for finally making a stone skip. I did feel a sense of pride blossom, before I felt embarrassed for being praised and proud for being able to do something so simple and meaningless. Then again, maybe it wasn't meaningless at all, since I now learn something that we have in common now. I was taught something that both of us can enjoy when we have nothing else in common due to how we were raised.

o0o0o0o

He then mentioned me to follow him, as he held my hand once more and we walked away from the pond and headed back out to the open field. Then we headed out of the small park and we walked back to the neighborhood and to our houses.

He then stopped and looked at me with uncertainty, but he tried to look casual. He pointed to the house he lives in and I realized he was inviting me in.

I smiled and nodded, and he seems happy to know that I accepted the invite and led me up the steps to the door. I figured it was fair that I get to see just what kind of home he lives in when he has seen how I live. He opened the door and it seemed dark, but he walked in and I followed, taking my shoes off by the doorway when he opened some curtains, making the place brighter than before.

It was a very spacious home, the living room has most of the furniture: a couch, a lounge chair, a coffee table, a couple shelves with books and trinkets which one I'm a bit weary is the gun that was displayed like my katana at home. It looked like it wasn't used so I turned my attention to the radio that was strange to me.

He then let me look around the kitchen as he headed to the refrigerator, which I'm accustomed to back in my own home now, and took out two glass bottles of some dark liquid and handed me one. He easily took the cap off of his and started to take a gulp of it as I looked at mine, wondering what it was. He said it was called 'cola', and obviously it's a beverage, but I only seen coffee as a dark colored liquid that was served hot, while this was cold. He helped me open it and he gave me an assuring smile as he took another gulp of his.

I looked at the bottle and I could smell something that wasn't like coffee and carefully tipped the bottle back and took a small amount in my mouth.

… I have never tasted anything this good before.

It wasn't too sweet but just enough, and the aftertaste coated my tongue, teasing my tastes to take another mouthful of this liquid. I could also feel the sensation of bubbles in my mouth as it entered my mouth. I took another mouthful and I knew I was hooked to this drink, this 'cola'. And soon I had finished the bottle and I looked at Alfred-san and he was done with his as well and handed his hand out for me to hand over the empty glass bottle, and then he placed them in a box carefully with other bottles, but they were dark colored and not like the cola ones.

The taste in my mouth was now teasing me, but Alfred-san lead me out of the kitchen and showed me around his home, where I saw the bathroom, which was plain with a bit of a mess here and there, but nothing to stress about. I got to see his bedroom, which was a bit of a mess, which he laughed and looked like it was a silly joke as he led me out. He showed me some closets that held extra blankets and whatnot. Then we passed by one door, but I didn't point it out, seeing that if he didn't want to show me then it wasn't important to show.

o0o0o0o

After he showed me around, we headed to the living room and he found a book for me to read, and my English reading and speaking lesson began. And soon it started to look late and Alfred-san's stomach started to growl. He laughed and said something that he normally doesn't use in my household, and then he got up and entered the kitchen. I followed as he started to take some things out and I watched as he got some things set out before mentioning me to help him, much like what I do with him back in my house.

When we were done with everything, I looked at my plate of what Alfred-san calls 'hamburgers' and he took a bite of his. I held mine up and stared at it before taking a bite. It wasn't bad, but nothing like my usual food, but was good.

After that, we headed back to the living room and he helped me with writing English, which was actually a lot harder than some people realize. With my hiragana and kanji writings, it was always like holding a paint brush, smooth and flowing. But English was short and choppy, but it was necessary for my experience in American soil. Sometime in the lesson, Alfred-san surprised me with mentioning about how I would write. So our roles switched again as I taught him the basic vowels in hiragana, which he picked up the sounding a bit, but the writing would definitely need some work.

o0o0o0o

Soon it was late enough for us to sleep, but before that Alfred got up and headed back into the kitchen, mentioning me to stay, and walked out holding something in his hand. He was holding something that was flat, but it wasn't paper, wrapped around in some brown, shiny paper, which was torn and revealed a brown bar of some kind before breaking off a small piece and handed it to me.

I took the offered piece as he broke a piece for himself and took a nibble of it, watching me. I looked at my piece and saw that, whatever this was is edible and I saw that it can easily melt on the count of my fingers being coated by the brown substance. I placed the piece and my mouth and I recreated the moment with the cola. It was sweet, which I wasn't used to but this kind of sweet was very addicting and I looked at Alfred as he broke another piece for me to have as he mentioned what it was called.

"Chocolate."

I tried to sound it out, but he just smiled as he sat down next to me, being fully relaxed. I sense the atmosphere and I can read that this was a time to relax and enjoy the moment. I took the piece in my mouth once more, savoring this new addictive sweetness.

After that blissful moment with this sweet treat, it was time for bed, which I was lead to the guest room and handed some extra clothes. I tried to refuse and mentioned to go back to my house, it was next door after all, but he seems insistent that I spend the night here. I figured it was to repay for letting him stay with me last night and I agreed to stay and turned in for the night.

The bed was very different from my futon. It was off of the ground, as if to avoid anything crawling under the covers. But this didn't hinder my sleep as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep, wondering what Alfred-san has in mind for tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 10: Alfred - Skipping Stones**_

Saturday

We walked for some time and I could see the park is just up ahead. I figured it's a good day out to go to the park, plus there's something I wanted to try out but needed someone to try with me. When we arrived at the park, I looked at him and he seemed a bit out of it. I called out his name and he was brought back from whatever la la land he was in. For some reason I find his curious look to be kinda cute, if I didn't know he's a guy.

But I told him where we were and, I admit I have a great time trying to get him to pronounce the word 'park', but I have to be easy on him to. He's a good guy after all. I continued to walk around the area until I lead us to the pond where I wanted to try out the skipping stone thing.

I skipped stones before with some kids back in Illinois when I was about eight. But I remember that we weren't there long before Dad decided to move us again. The stone skipping was the only thing I had a lot of fun with and I wanted to show Honda that as well.

I had to hold in my laugh when he looked so surprised to see my stone skip across the water as I handed him a few stones for him to try out. I watched as he threw the stone, only to be a failed attempt. I could see he didn't seem happy about it, even turned a soft shade of pink. I knew the feeling as I tried my best to guide him to how it's done and let him try again. It took him a lot of tries, but he managed to skip the stone three times on his last stone.

I praised him on a job well done and he blushed again. I swear he looks like a girl when he gets so shy and blushing like that. Maybe that's why people are looking at us strangely, which I noticed while he was throwing his fifth stone or something. He looks younger than me and he looks like a girl, and we're the same height. I have to laugh at the scenario as people might mistake this outing as some kind of date, though he might not make a bad girlfriend, if he's a girl for starters. But oh well, the main thing is that he learned how to skip a stone, and he seemed to enjoy it too which was great in my opinion because we now have something we can do together.

I then grabbed his hand again, which could also be another indicator to anyone looking at us that we could be mistaken as a couple, but I rather let them think that then try to hurt him. From what I've seen with the black students in past schools, they were looked down on a lot. Even in my new school where I saw more nationalities than I care to know, only to see that there's a major bully problem in all sorts of levels. I didn't want Honda to experience that, especially on his first weekend, but then again he'd already experienced a minor form of harassment from his work place where his only companion is that guy that takes him to work and brings him home. He's a nice guy, but even he has to do something and leave Honda to defend himself. I could tell he's strong and can handle it, but there are some things that even a hero can't control.

o0o0o0o

I lead us back to the neighborhood and another thought popped in my mind as I saw the house I live in coming up. I've always go to Honda's place after school, just so that I wouldn't be lonely again. The radio was only a temporarily relief in the house, but ever since I started to hang out with my neighbor, and even though the language thing is difficult, I felt not so alone anymore. Maybe because he and I are kind of similar in a way. He's in a world completely different from his own, alone, and expected to work in a place that's not really foreigner friendly but tolerated if the work is done right. And I've gone to so many places that sometimes I don't even bother to unpack the boxes in my room, expecting us to move again soon. But now things are a bit different, and I can honestly say that Honda, a Japanese man, is my very first friend I can truly be comfortable around with.

It didn't matter to me that we're a bit different, because that was the point of culture, everyone is different. Heck! Even the families here in America are different in their traditions. I knew a kid always talked about his family tradition around Christmas and I always envied that guy because my Christmas tradition was open the small number of gifts that Dad was able to get me and have a quiet breakfast with him and then go to church, the only best part of that tradition, and go home and just be left alone again.

I stopped and tried to not look too desperate or anticipative as I looked at him. "Would you like to come to my house?" I said as I pointed to the house. "I've always gone to yours…" I knew he couldn't fully understand me yet, but I wanted to get my point across, which he smiled and nodded. I'm really glad that he's patient. He may not talk a lot, but that's probably his thing as I led him up to the door, opened it, and walked in.

o0o0o0o

I then noticed that the curtains weren't open as I went there first and brought in some light. I looked to see that he was observing everything in the area, which wasn't much, but enough to make it look like a cozy home environment.

I led him to the kitchen, probably the only place that I can feel like I have control over besides my schoolwork, and took out two coke bottles and handed one to him. I don't know if he had one before, but I realize immediately he never seen anything like it. It was kinda amusing just watching him curiously look at the liquid in the bottle. "It's called cola." I said, using something simpler for him to understand, that and its sounds nicer than coke, for now at least since he's still learning the whole language thing. I helped open the cap off of the bottle as I took another swing of my bottle, looking away so that he wouldn't think he's being pressured or anything.

But when I looked at him again, he took a small amount, like he was drinking his tea, and I could tell he was hooked to the drink by how he was staring at the bottle and taking another, longer sip.

Yep, he's just one step closer to blending into the American society.

When we're both done, I placed the empty bottles to where Dad's beer bottles are, and I hope that Honda never has to drink that crap. I tried some once, it was okay, but I've seen my dad have too much one night and I didn't stick around the house until morning came up, and it was a school night of all nights for him to stay home.

I then gave him a tour of the place, but passing Dad's room because I don't know what he's done to his room. I also had some bad experiences when it comes to entering that room whether he's in or not, so I don't bother with it anymore, no matter where we are.

Then I figured I could pick back up the English lessons by picking up a book and we spent a good few hours of me pronouncing the words and him listening and trying to sound it out, though his accent was very different when he said it, but as long as he knows what the words are then the speaking can develop naturally as long as we're going along.

o0o0o0o

Soon my stomach began to let its needs know and I laughed. "Time to cook!" I said as I got up and headed to the kitchen, Honda following behind me. I got most of the stuff out and I let him help by covering the ground beef in the stuff I placed in a bowl. He didn't seem keen on the idea, but he did it anyway. If he didn't want to do it he didn't have to, but I let him be as I got the stove to the right heat set and a frying pan out.

Once the hamburgers were made, I was eagar to bite mine, but he looked at his before taking a bite. He took another bite, but for some reason I feel that he didn't enjoy it like he enjoyed the coke. Oh well, at least he doesn't downright hate it.

After that I figured it was time for him to write some letters in English. I could tell he has difficulty writing, no doubt he wasn't used to the way I write, because he kept writing the print differently. I knew he would do better cursive, but I wanted to teach him print writing before cursive, because not a lot of people like to read cursive all the time and print was a lot simpler to read. And after some accomplishment with the alphabet, I made him write things like 'cat' and 'dog', just something easy for him to write.

Then I got a little curious about how he writes, since I've never seen him do that and he showed me how and I understood why he was having such trouble writing the alphabet. For one thing his hand was a lot steadier when he was holding the pencil, and his… letters are something I can't understand. He then sounded out each one that sounded like the vowels and he taught me how to write the vowels. Now I understand how he feels.

o0o0o0o

After an hour or two with that I mentioned him to stay where he was and went back into the kitchen, headed to the pantry, took out a chocolate bar and went back out to share it with him. I wondered if he liked chocolate as he looked at the piece before he took a tiny bite of it. I have to smile as he reacted the same way as he did with the coke as he looked at me and I gave him another piece.

"Chocolate." I said as he took the piece.

"Chokorate…?" He tried sounding it out, but I didn't try to correct it as I sat down next to him and we enjoyed the chocolate together.

It was really nice to have someone over and hang out with for once. Sure he's mostly quiet and doesn't understand a lot of English yet, but just being there was enough for me and I could tell he was having a good time as well.

I convinced him to stay the night, since he let me stay at mine last night and that night I wondered what we could do tomorrow before falling asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter 11: Kiku - End of the Weekend_**

_Sunday_

I woke up to the light that passed through my closed eyes and the sounds of the morning birds chirping a simple song. I opened my eyes to see that the bright morning sunlight filled up the room and I rose to a sitting position. Soon I got out of the bed, changed, and walked out of the room to find that Alfred-san is still asleep. I headed down to the kitchen and see if there was anything I could make to repay for his kindness of letting me spend the night in his house.

o0o0o0o

When I opened the door where he stored his food, all I could do is stare at the unusual bagged and canned foods. I'm unfamiliar with all of it and I wasn't sure how long I stood there when I heard his usual morning greeting, startling me and I looked to see as he reached to grab two slices of bread and placed them into a machine. He looked at me and smiled as he pointed at it and said it was a toaster.

I tried to sound it out as he went to the fridge and took out something yellow and looked very soft by how he was holding it.

Soon the bread that was in the toaster suddenly popped up and I saw that they looked brown and harder than when they first went in. I saw him grab one of the slices, smeared a small amount of the soft, yellow stuff onto it before handing it to me. I studied my slice as I took a small bite and found that it wasn't bad and we had a quiet breakfast that morning.

Once we were done, he grabbed my hand, apparently he figured out what to do for the day and, after I put my shoes back on, and we headed back to my small home. I was confused as to why we were back to my house when he went up to my mother's favorite scroll and pointed out that he wanted to continue our lesson from last night. I mentioned him to sit down as I started making the tea and as the water started to boil, I grabbed all the things needed for the lesson when the tea was ready and we begin the lesson.

o0o0o0o

As the lesson went on, I would correct him, sometimes hit him with a fan when I suspected he was messing up the pronunciations on purpose. But I had fun, which was unexpected but nice and we ended up laughing. He seemed impressed with how I draw pictures with my brush, which seems to also work a lot with recognizing the characters.

When we got to obaa-san, or mother in English, I sensed the atmosphere and looked to see that Alfred-san's aura seemed to have dampened a bit. I drew out something that he could recognize as my question and he drew out his response as I saw two pictures and a dotted void outline and understood what it meant. I could tell he didn't want to make me feel bad as he put up a small honest smile and mentioned to continue with the lesson.

We worked on the lessons even when the sun has set some time ago and he mentioned that school resumes tomorrow, which also means I have to go back to work. I watched him leave and enter the already empty house.

I can't help but feel sad seeing him enter such a large house while his father is obviously not going to come in until so much later. And I can't help but think about what I've learned about him. He never knew his own mother. I recently lost mine just a year ago and to imagine not knowing who your mother is must be painful if not that. Then again, I have met others who have lost their mothers as well, but this is the first time that I've met someone who not only has no idea about his mother, but also has a father who isn't there for him. I'm fortunate to look up at my father…

I changed for bed and settled under the covers but didn't fall asleep right away. I have survived my first week in America, and I've learned quite a bit because of my new friend. And I hope this new week and the many more to come would be like this. I hope that he stays here for the four years I'm here. And I hope that we remain friends in that time period and after I return home in Japan.

So many thoughts ran through my mind that I would've never thought before if not for Alfred-san. He truly is someone special after being alone and isolated for most of my life.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 12: Alfred - End of the Weekend**_

_Sunday_

Did. Not. Sleep. Well. At. All…

I kept having the stupid dream of when I was a kid, when I would see Dad a little more than I did now. Then it went back to what he said on Friday. I woke up in the middle of the night, tears in my eyes. I hate nights like this. It happened every other day within the year since I turned ten. But I didn't keep a conscious record until last year when I turned tweleve. And since then I've managed to put on a happy face to anyone I meet if it was a school day. If it was a weekend like this, I would stay home and try to keep busy doing something…

But I have Honda in this first weekend together, and sometimes I think he knows how I'm feeling. Maybe I'm just taking those blank stares too seriously. I mean really? Who the heck reads minds or knows how people feel? Maybe it's another cultural thing… I'm too tired to think, but I can't get to sleep. This is why I hate nights when I get that stupid dream.

I got up from my bed and walked carefully out to the hall and found that Honda left the door open. I looked to see that he was still there. In all the rooms in this house has, the room he's in right now is by far the best one, which is why neither Dad or I took dibs in this room because a guest deserves the best.

Looking at Honda now, with the moonlight hitting his face the way it was, he looks so much like a girl.

Damn moon…

I went straight back to my room after seeing that he was okay and all, my heart pounding and my face getting warm. Geeze, why can I not feel that way with the other cute girls at my school? Stupid moon making Honda, a guy, looking more like a girl than he already is! I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling as I thought about how much fun we had earlier.

Honda really is a great guy to hang out with, and I can't think about that enough really. I haven't had that much fun in so long really. I always end up moving anyway so what was the point of having any friendships? But now I see Honda as my friend and he's been really patient with me since we started hanging out. Either that or our language barrier is his only excuse to put up with me… Then again he was also having fun today too. There's no way anyone can fake a true blissful look when they tasted chocolate for the first time, or have the same thing with cola, or even finding that simple accomplishment in skipping a stone.

o0o0o0o

Soon I found out that I fell asleep sometime while I was thinking and remembering those moments, yesterday now. I got up, put a simple white shirt, jeans, and walked out to find Honda looking in the pantry, and he was just staring at the various stuff that was in there. He's not used to the American kind of food and I wasn't really all that hungry. I called out my morning to him, which he jumped and went into the pantry to grab two slices of bread and placed them a toaster. I looked to see he was wondering what I was doing and I pointed out that it was a toaster, which I couldn't help but smile when he tried to sound it out, which was close and went to the fridge to get the butter.

Once I was done with putting some butter on the toast, I handed the slice to him, watching as he studied it for a second before taking a bite of it. I took a bite out of mine and we enjoyed the quiet for that moment. I knew he didn't have a clue to what to do and I was thinking what else we could do. Then I remembered asking him to teach me to write and read his language, and I enjoyed that small lesson. So I grabbed his hand, headed to the door, wait for him to put his shoes on, and we headed to his house.

o0o0o0o

I can tell he looked really lost as I headed up to the scroll that he had up on the wall with some of the writing in his language and pointed out a few times that I want him to teach me today. He got it and he mentioned me to sit.

So I waited as he was preparing tea, which he does out of habit and figured it was something he did back in Japan as well. He came back a few times carrying paper, some ink, a small brush, and books. Then the tea was done and my lesson starts.

I didn't know how long I was doing this, but I had a blast as I keep messing up pronounciations, sometimes on purpose, and he would correct me, which he would know I would do it on purpose and hit me with some kind of fan to make me stop that but that wouldn't be much fun. Soon we got each other laughing and I learned that he's actually a good artist with the way he draws simple pictures with ink and a brush, I can't draw a simple stick figure with a pencil.

Then we reached to a word that means 'mother', and for some reason that struck a cord in me. He seemed to have sense it, however he did is beyond me, and drew out a question since he couldn't really say it yet. I tried my hand in drawing, which was me and Dad, and then I dotted around the empty space and placed a question mark in it before showing him. He understood and I didn't want him to feel bad about it so I put on a smile, that didn't feel fake or forced, and patted him on the back.

"Hey forget it, okay? Come on, how do you say this?" I said, trying to get him to get on with the lesson and hope he slightly forgets what he learned. It wasn't anything new anyway here, but it's mostly the fathers that leave, but I don't have a clue to what happened to my mom. I was told that Mom died when she gave birth to me, and I would accept that since there's no real reason to go out to find out.

o0o0o0o

Soon it was late and I knew that this weekend was over and I have school in the morning. I let him know and he understood and with that we said good night and I headed back to the house.

It was only after I stepped foot into the empty house that I remembered that Dad wasn't going to be home this or the next week…

I suddenly felt cold, the kind of cold that seeps into your skin even on a warm day. I knew this feeling all too well as loneliness and I didn't want to bother Honda with it. So I manned up and headed to my room, only to pass by it and went into the guest room, which was still unmade because I dragged him out of the house before he could.

I laid down on the bed and remembered what I saw much earlier this morning and fell asleep, the words I learned ringing in my head like a song. All in his voice and laughter.

* * *

Sorry for the lack of update. Things going on you know. Hope you liked it all the same.


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